Hamburg — Blue Trainer Travels

This was probably by far the hardest day trip I have taken which has brought me to the decision that the next time I think about taking a day trip, I would think loonng and hard about it because it wasn't easy. Normally I fly out of Gatwick because it's closer, but this time for some bizarre reason, I booked a flight that left from Heathrow at 7:35am. Now this meant I had to be out of my house at 4am in order to get to my flight on time. Plus, I may have been slightly hungover soo that did not help the situation. But needless to say, at 10am (local time =GMT +1) I landed in Germany.

For the first time, I bought a travel guide. There were two reasons for this.

I hadn't checked the place out before. This was a very impromptu trip so I hadn't done a little bit of researching before like how I do with my other trips
I didn't have that much time I'm the city and so I needed to know the must see places.

I must say, I think I only opened it maybe 3 times and then the rest I was literally winging it. But it was nice to have an idea as to where I should go, the must see places etc. Anyway I digress.

From the airport I took the S1 train to the city centre. I think I'm becoming good at navigating the transport systems of other countries. It's been interesting. Journey time was about 20 min. When I got out of the train station, I made my way through the city centre. I don't know, maybe it's just me, but city centres don't interest me much because they all look similar. I'm always interested in the older buildings, the places that make a place a place. And it didn't take long for me to find what I was looking for.

I loved that the town hall is accessible to everyone. The views on the inner courtyard were amazing. This is where I found this beautiful statue. I couldn't get a wide angle shot of the entire place because of my lens. It was very frustrating for me because I wanted to show you, but now you have a reason to go to Hamburg so that you can see it in all its glory.

As I spent more time walking around the city, I began to realise that the city has been built on a river. So for me it felt a lot like Amsterdam when I was walking around the town. I even saw a man fishing ! How crazy is that. After a while, the hangover began to get to me, so I knew I had to stop and eat and basically recover before I got myself to the hospital. I found a Block House, which is a steak house basically and I won't lie, I basically ran there. I definitely would recommend it, maybe it was because I was hungry but the food was beautifully cooked, the service was great, they are very nice to you if you aren't a German speaker and they will keep checking in with you, which is what you'd expect really from any restaurant. Anyway this gave me a chance to check out that guide book that I took. So an hour and a half later, I my belly was happy and I was armed with the next places that I had to go and see.

I headed off to Speicherstdat and HafenCity. This is the warehouse district of Hamburg, to me it was one of the most mesmerising places that I got the chance of going to. I loved that inbetween the warehouses or "blocks" there were canals ! Now the warehouses are being converted into offices and homes, but a definite must see when you get to Hamburg. I even saw a bride and groom being photographed. Unfortunately I was too far to get a clear shot ! I found the design of the buildings mesmerising and I could literally spend the whole day there...but time was ticking so I had to head to the next place.

Across the road from Speicherstdat, I found Deichstraße, where if you've been to Copenhagen, you'll feel like you have teleported there. The houses survived the fire of 1842, and they are still standing in their original form. Obviously me being me, I found a little alley way that took me a little closer and I was overwhelmed. I can't explain it. Seeing those buildings survived from a fire, it sort of reminded me of humanity. So many things are happening in the world and are threatening the existence of humanity, but we are still standing, still here. And we will be for a long time yet.

After getting back, I thought, where next- so instead of getting my guide book out, I just followed the crowd and headed in the same direction as they were - you can never go wrong, right ? Well this time it paid off because I found myself at the Landing Bridges, which is Hamburg's port. Now I have seen boats and ships and the like, but never at this magnitude with soo many people coming off the vessels and others going on soon after. I was stood there watching like a little girl because to me that was just brilliant.

Afterwards, I made my way over to St Michael, a cathedral with the best views of the city. For €8 you can go into the crypts and up the tower. I loved the inside of the church too, but the pictures didn't come out great. But when I went up the tower, I saw the city and the beauty of it. Honestly I should have started here, because I ended up rushing, but if you are ever in Hamburg, you better check that out first. I promise you, you won't be disappointed.

Overall I really did enjoy my day trip to Hamburg. The people are nice and friendly and the city is very clean. So if you're looking for clean, this is the place to go. I hated that my time was so limited. As a result I have decided to not take any more day trips. I'm going to at least spend a night in the place where I would have gone to. This will allow me to see the city during the night, and also spend a lot more time there. So this may be the last one (I already have one booked, but that might change) stay tuned !

I just wanted to say thank you for supporting me through this journey. I honestly thought no one was reading it, but I have had some amazing feedback regarding this. It's not easy travelling solo, but I do it because for some strange reason it keeps me sane. That doesn't mean I wouldn't go travelling with other people. I will, in fact a few trips that are in the pipeline are with other people.

So where next....well Vienna. I actually had booked to go to Vienna, life happened and I was in no position to take that trip, it would have asked a lot of me mentally, but now I am in a much better place and I can't wait to explore Austria. So if you have must see places, please let me know :)

Till next time
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